Virizion/BW
Virizion is a static legendary encounter found within Rumination Field, deep within Pinwheel Forest. It comes at level 42 and is only accessible after the player has encountered Cobalion within Mistralton Cave. Robbing Breloom of its formerly one-of-a-kind typing, Virizion, like Cobalion, is a very balanced Pokémon. With several key resistances to common offensive typings, such as Dark and Water, Virizion is able to serve as a solid defensive backbone to most teams, and it's good offensive pressure ensures it is not passive in any way. However, while it has an impressive six resistances to common offensive types, it suffers from a significant number of weaknesses, including a 4x one to Flying. Despite this, Virizion is a powerful Pokémon, and probably the best offensive Grass-type Unova has to offer, although Lilligant does compete for that title, simply because Quiver Dance is broken. Important Matchups * Gym #7 - Brycen (Icirrus City, Ice-type): Despite type disadvantage, Virizion brings the heat in its gym debut. Vanillish wants to 3HKO with Frost Breath, while Sacred Sword effortlessly OHKOs before it even gets a chance to attack. It is the same with Cryogonal, even if it does slightly more damage with Frost Breath, and may depending on natures and IVs get a hit off before falling. While Beartic can only 2HKO with Icicle Crash, it has the bulk to stomach a Sacred Sword from a freshly caught Virizion, and the eternal threat of critical hits makes this a dicey matchup. However if needed, Virizion can handle it, perhaps with the help of an X-attack popped on Vanillish or Cryogonal. * Bianca (Route 8): After Intimidate, a level 44 Virizion will 2HKO Stoutland with Sacred Sword, while Retaliate is a 4HKO unboosted, and it shouldn't last long enough to set up with Work Up. Additionally, due to Virizion having Justified, it may be worth leading with a Ghost or Psychic-type Pokémon to bait out Crunch in order to secure an attack boost. Her Musharna is not that threatening as its only attacking move is Psybeam, which is a 4HKO. X-Scissor has a chance at 2HKOing unboosted, which may get annoying if it spams Defense Curl. However with the Justified boost it is a guaranteed 2HKO regardless if its defense is buffed. X-Scissor handles both Serperior and Simisage with ease, 1HKOing the later at plus 1, and 2HKOing Serperior after a boost. The grass snake might be a slight pest without the attack boost as Coil lets it buff up to fight back, although Slam is only a 4HKO at one stage of boosted attack and X-Scissor still has a chance to 2HKO. Her Water-types fall victim to Giga Drain, as even if it is only a 2HKO on Samurott, neither of them possess ways to reliably harm Virizion. Her Fire-types are best handled under rain if Virizion has to fight them, which is a relatively frequent occurrence on the route. Sacred Sword rips through Simisear in the same fashion as with Simisage, and Flame Burst is only a potential 3HKO in response under normal weather conditions. If it is not raining, Virizion needs to be careful if it has had its attack raised against Emboar as a +1 Sacred Sword can easily bring the Fire-type into Blaze range, making Heat Crash a 2HKO. Otherwise this is a relatively safe affair, as unboosted Sacred Sword is a 3HKO while Heat Crash suffers heavily under rain, becoming a 5HKO if not in Blaze Range, and a 3HKO outside of rain. * Gym #8 - Iris/Drayden (Opelucid City, Dragon-type): Virizion freely 2HKOs Fraxure with Sacred Sword at level 45, which given the level curve isn't too hard to get to. Meanwhile it realistically should not be able to set up enough Dragon Dances for Dragon Tail to be a threat, given that it is a 4HKO unboosted. Druddigon is significantly more threatening due to its superior bulk, only being 3HKO'd by Sacred Sword and it can do the same back with Revenge. It may also be worth trying to bait Night Slash with sending out a Ghost or Psychic-Type Pokémon against it and then swapping in Virizion to activate Justified for the attack boost. Without the attack boost, Virizion is 3HKOing Haxorus with Sacred Sword or 2HKOing with Focus Blast, although its shaky accuracy against a Pokémon with access to Dragon Dance may be unappealing. Meanwhile Haxorus 3HKOs with Dragon Tail unboosted and that becomes a major problem after 1 or 2 boosts. Justified being activated against Druddigon makes Sacred Sword a 2HKO, and the dragon needs a critical hit to OHKO with Dragon Tail at plus 2, an opportunity it should not be getting due to the move's low priority. * Cheren (Route 10): Avoid his Unfezant as while it might not be very powerful with Air Slash, Virizion has a nasty 4x weakness to Flying, which makes the move a 2HKO, while Virizion needs Focus Blast to do the same. Liepard is an easy target, either option for Fighting STAB OHKOing it, although baiting it to attack a Psychic or Ghost-type with STAB Night Slash for the Justified boost is again an option. Simipour and Samurott both fall into the same trap of not being able to do much damage to Virizion, which quickly takes them down with Giga Drain. X-Scissor again serves as a way to break through the Grass-types he brings to the fold. Simisage is cleanly 2HKO'd without the attack boost and faces a chance of being OHKO'd afterwards while struggling to harm Virizion. Serperior is far sturdier, only being 3HKO'd by X-Scissor when all stats are neutral. From there it will set up Coil on Virizion, with the intent of eventually breaking through the sword of justice with Slam. However Work Up allows Virizion to boost its offensive pressure in pace with Serperior becoming tankier, and a Justified boost swings this match up firmly in your favour (or you could just start hitting it with Sacred Sword, since it ignores the target's stat changes). Virizion can fight Simisear if it has more than 115 speed due to both sides having a chance to 2HKO each other between their STAB moves. Avoid Emboar however, as its Flamethrower will 2HKO Virizion at equal levels, meanwhile Sacred Sword is a 3HKO. * Elite Four Shauntal (Pokémon League, Ghost-type): '''Cofagrius and Virizion are both working for potential 3HKOs between Psychic and Giga Drain. Boosting up with Work Up may be of use, here in order to gain the edge in terms of damage output but Will-o-Wisp ensures Cofagrius scores the 3HKO, so be careful of burns. Jellicent can only 5HKO with Shadow Ball, meanwhile Giga Drain has a high chance to 2HKO unboosted and is certain at plus 1. Speaking of boosts, a +1 Sp.atk Giga Drain has a noticeable chance to OHKO Golurk, not that it is doing much to Virizion anyway, with Shadow Punch being a 3HKO. Avoid Chandelure like the plague, a special attack stat second only to Reshiram is nothing to be trifled with, especially when it has STAB Fire Blast to vaporise Virizion with. * '''Elite Four Marshal (Pokémon League, Fighting-type): Throh is stronger in terms of raw damage output than Virizion in regards to Storm Throw vs. Sacred Sword. The former is a surefire 3HKO, however Sacred Sword is trying to achieve the same goal. Use of healing items is required for this if Virizion has to fight here. Sawk is significantly more manageable, as Karate Chop is a 4HKO in contrast to Sacred Sword's 2HKO. Conkeldurr is to be avoided as its high power makes Hammer Arm a 2HKO. Meanwhile Virizion needs Focus Blast to even 2HKO, the low accuracy of the move makes it a shaky proposition. Lastly Mienshao shares a 2HKO between Jump Kick and Sacred Sword, easy pickings if you have 138 speed or more. * Elite Four Grimsley (Pokémon League, Dark-type): As tempting as it is to simply tell you to just spam Sacred Sword/Focus Blast here, Virizion does have a really easy fight here. Bait a STAB move from any of his pokémon for it to switch in on to trigger Justified, and then fire away. Even Liepard's Aerial Ace isn't a problem as it 2HKOs but Virizion is faster with the Sacred Sword OHKO. * Elite Four Caitlin (Pokémon League, Psychic-type): '''Refrain from using this Fighting-type against a quartet of Psychic-types, regardless of how specially bulky Virizion is. * '''Reshiram/Zekrom (N's Castle): As bulky as Virizion is on the special side, Reshiram is simply far too powerful for Virizion to try and handle, simply throw the master ball at it or send something better suited for this task out to deal with it. Zekrom is only slightly better, given it cannot OHKO Virizion, however Zen Headbutt is a 2HKO, while Sacred Sword is only a 4HKO at level 52. * N (N's Castle): See the above points for his dragon, minus throwing the master ball. In regards to what stays constant between both versions, Carracosta is free, only surviving Giga Drain through Sturdy while only being able to 5HKO with Stone Edge. Klinklang is in a similar boat, being shredded by either of Virizion's Fighting STAB options, struggling to do much back with Flash Cannon. Avoid having Virizion engage Archeops for pretty obvious reasons, STAB Acrobatics from an a absurdly high attack stat is not something anything weak to Flying wants to take, and Virizion is no exception. Zoroark is OHKO'd by Virizion's choice in Fighting moves while its Flamethrower is a 3HKO. While Vanilluxe's Blizzard will hurt, scoring a 2HKO, Virizion should outspeed it and 2HKO first with Sacred Sword. * Ghetsis (N's Castle): Virizion and Cofagrius are both looking for 3HKOs between Giga Drain and Psychic. While spamming Work Up is a viable option here, just be careful of its Toxic stall strategy. Bouffalant is 2HKO'd by Sacred Sword, while Head Charge is a 2HKO in exchange, be cautious of spamming Giga Drain while it is still able to fight, as granting it a free attack boost through Sap Sipper is not an ideal situation to be in, as it rolling a positive nature turns Head Charge into a potential OHKO at plus 1. Thankfully Seismitoad and Bisharp are significantly easier to handle, both being OHKO'd by Giga Drain and Sacred Sword respectively. Eelektross should only be approached if Virizion has set up to +4 with Work Up prior to secure Sacred Sword one shotting. Otherwise Virizion will die to Acrobatics. Hydreigon is scary with Fire Blast being a 2HKO. However, should Virizion have 140 speed or more, it outruns the triple headed menace and 2HKOs with Sacred Sword unboosted. * Post-Game: Not too much changes in what Virizion can and cannot do in Eastern Unova, although it gets significantly more flexible in what options are open for it. Kyurem is doable due to Glaciate being underpowered in contrast to Close Combat or Sacred Sword and the Elite 4 are pretty much the same as last time in the rematches. Just don't let it fight Alder, everything he has wants to kill Virizion. Moves When caught, Virizion will have the following moves: Helping Hand, Retaliate, Giga Drain and Sacred Sword. Off this decent start, the next move it learns is Swords Dance '''at level 49. This is a powerful option for physically focused Virizion, however it lacks access to a Grass move to exploit it with until postgame. Likely the last move that you'll see it learn before the credits roll is '''Quick Guard at level 55, however this move is built with doubles in mind, and therefore will not see much use ingame. In Eastern Unova, the first move it picks up by level is Work Up at level 61, you've had the the TM for this long before you even caught it. Finally it gets physical STAB on both typings in the form of Leaf Blade '''and '''Close Combat at levels 67 and 73 respectively. Since you already have access to the move relearner by the time you catch Virizion, I'll go over it's backlog here. Quick Attack may have use as a way to pick off weakened foes or breaking Sturdy when fighting Rock-types such as Gigalith. Everything else, such as Double Kick '''and '''Magical Leaf are outclassed by Virizion's current options when caught, or its TM choices. In regards to technical machines and what they offer Virizion, one of the first moves that stick out is Focus Blast. While its low accuracy may be unappealing, it is Virizion's only special Fighting STAB and thus may be worth using if Virizion's attack stat is noticeably weaker than its special attack. X-Scissor is a nice coverage option, hitting Grass and Psychic-Type Pokémon hard, particularly given that the majority of them have relatively low defence stats. Return '''is also a viable option, achieving decent coverage atop Virizion's STAB options. '''Hidden Power may also be of use depending on the typing and power, the most ideal types would be Ice or Ghost. While its attacking options are somewhat limited, Virizion does have access to a large support movepool from TMs, such as Work Up, Toxic, Light Screen '''and '''Reflect. Recommended moveset: Giga Drain, Sacred Sword/Focus Blast, X-Scissor, Filler Support: Giga Drain, Reflect, Light Screen, Toxic Swords Dance (Postgame only): Leaf Blade, Close Combat/Sacred Sword, Stone Edge, Swords Dance Recommended Teammates * Rock-Types: 'Virizion's main problems comes from it's difficult weakness to Flying and Poison-type attacks, which are quite common in the second half of your Unovan adventure. Thankfully, there is a solid selection of Rock-type Pokémon that can easily handle these types. Virizion's natural special bulk and resistances to Grass and Water-type attacks combos well with their traditionally high physical defense. ** ''Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Gigalith, Carracosta, Crustle and Archeops. * '''Dark-Types: Psychic-types serve as a legitimate problem for most Fighting-type Pokémon in Unova, even if most of them have options to hit them for super effective damage. Thankfully, Unova has a whole horde of powerful Dark-types to offer for those looking for a way to counter the Psychics. Virizion serves as a decent check to Bug-types due to its neutrality to the type and can go toe to toe with the many powerful Fighting-type Pokémon in Unova. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Krookodile, Scrafty and Bisharp. * Water-Types: The combination of a Water-type with a Grass-type is a long lasting tradition across the generations, and it just so happens that Unova has a good selection of Water-types ready to tank Fire or Ice-type moves targeted at Virizion. Likewise, Virizion is a solid answer to Electric and Grass-type Pokémon threatening its aquatic partner. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Samurott, Simipour, Seismitoad, Jellicent and Alomomola. Other Virizion's stats * What Nature do I want? '''Virizion's balanced stat spread allows it to be pretty flexible in terms of nature, although given that it is forced to go mixed until post game, something that lowers its average defence stat is probably ideal for offensively orientated Virizion. * '''How good is Virizion in a Nuzlocke? It's a Grass-type Pokémon in a region that is not particularly friendly towards that type. However it is also a Fighting-Type in a region where the type is arguably at its strongest. The positives tend to outweigh the negatives here and while it may be the weakest of the Swords of Justice, it is still an extremely powerful Pokémon in its own right. * '''Weaknesses: '''Fire, Flying (X4), Ice, Poison, Psychic * '''Resistances: '''Dark, Electric, Grass, Ground, Rock, Water * '''Neutralities: '''Normal, Fighting, Bug, Ghost, Steel, Dragon Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses Category:Legendary Pokémon Category:Black/White Category:Grass-Type Category:Fighting-Type